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Video: Government shutdown: What's at stake for you?

Closed captioning of: Government shutdown: What's at stake for you?

>>>knows if the
federal government
will shut down this coming weekend, enough people in
high level
positions in
washington
believe it's enough of a possibility that parts of the
federal government
have to prepare for it. if the talks in
washington
fail, if the parties split further apart, the only question that matters tonight is how will this affect life in america and life where you live. it's where we begin tonight as these talks go on in
washington
, we go chicago. and nbc's
john yang
who has a look at what we all can expect. john, good evening.

>> reporter: good evening, brian. it's not just rain, snow, heat and the dark of night that won't stop the
u.s. mail
, the
government shutdown
won't stop it either. but if there's no deal by midnight friday, there are a lot of things that will go away. if the
federal government
shut down, would anyone notice.

>>nobody really knows what that means.

>>washington
does
washington
wants to do.

>> reporter: it's not just
washington
. officials say an estimated 800,000 federal workers across the country could be idled out of a civilian workforce of about 2 million.

>>some millions of americans, if government stays shut down beyond a weekend, are going to discover just what they count on the
federal government
for.

>> reporter: according to administration officials, home buyers wouldn't be able to get federal
home loan
guarantees, potentially threatening an already fragile
housing market
. clinics at the
national institutes of health
would stop taking new patients and starting new clinical trials. applications for new and renewed passports and visas would halt. and
national parks
, museums and monuments, including the
national zoo
in
washington
, would close to visitors. the
internal revenue service
would stop processing paper
tax returns
, but you'd still have to pay on time if you want to avoid a penalty even if the shutdown lasts into next week. paper
tax refund
checks would stop, but so would audits. federal workers who protect lives and property would stay on the job. so the military would remain on duty around the world and their bases open, though their pay would be delayed.
air traffic controllers
,
airport security
screeners,
border patrol
and
federal prison
guards would stay on the job. v.a. hospitals would stay open and, unless the shutdown stretched from weeks to months,
social security
, medicare and medicaid benefits would continue. this whole fight is over cutting federal spending. so would a federal shutdown save money? not necessarily. the last time this happened the government shut down for 26 days at the end of
1995
into the beginning of
1996
and it cost taxpayers $1.4 billion. brian?

>>i remember those days well.
john yang
starting us off in
chicago tonight
. john, thanks.